Contact: dhnewsguild@gmail.com
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL – On Thursday, Oct. 1, Daily Herald journalists elected to form the Daily Herald News Guild by an overwhelming vote of 15-0.
Authorized observers from the union and management witnessed the counting of ballots unsealed at the offices of the National Labor Relations Board at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.
The secret ballot election was conducted via U.S. mail after newspaper owner Alden Global Capital/Tribune Publishing refused to voluntarily recognize the union. All 20 union eligible journalists had signed cards in support of organizing in late August.
The Guild will officially be certified within a week of the vote tally.
The election comes after decades of layoffs and salary reductions at the suburban newspaper, which was acquired by Alden from Paddock Publications in June.
Over the last 10 years alone, employees saw their wages reduced by at least 15% and the work week reduced to 36.5 hours. During that same approximate period, employees experienced eight rounds of buyouts and/or combination buyouts and layoffs. It culminated with the dismissal of 12 Daily Herald employees on Aug. 12 under the new corporate ownership.
The union election reflects Guild members’ efforts to secure competitive wages and pay equity, transparency, a strong voice in the future of their newsroom and the ability to continue reporting on the suburban communities the paper has served for more than 150 years.
Standing together to form a union, our veteran writers, editors and photographers – many of whom have worked at the Daily Herald for more than 25 years – aim to build on that tradition by protecting our newsroom from the forces threatening our employees and our industry in general.
The Daily Herald News Guild joins with The Chicago News Guild Local 34071 TNG-CWA, which represents more than 600 media, non-profit and publishing workers throughout the Chicago area and nationally.
For more information or to read the staff’s mission statement, visit https://cwalocals.org/daily-herald-news-guild.